Consulting and leading in organisations: psychodynamic and systemic approaches (ED10, online)
Understand organisational systems and acquire the skills to work more effectively online
Our work roles and professional experiences are increasingly networked, geographically dispersed, and environmentally conscious. It seems inevitable that, one way or another, a lot more of our work and working relationships will take place online.
This two-year, online course will help you develop a ‘consultative stance’ as a leader, consultant or manager in this context – offering the opportunity to study live what is required and what emerges when working in the mixed economies of face to face and online work relations. The contemporary online medium of the course will be a focus of study.
This course is also delivered as a face-to-face version.
Please note: you may see the ED10 course also referred to as SCMATP001O in communications from our application system.
About this course
This course combines experiential learning with the study of psychoanalytic and systemic theory in relation to organisations, bringing into view the complex emotional lives of contemporary organisations. You will learn how to track the flow of pressure around organisational systems, noting how pressure may move up and down hierarchies, or flow out into certain departments, roles or professions, or into ‘troublesome individuals’.
Theory seminars and webinars will introduce you to key concepts such as the individual unconscious, the group unconscious and the institutional unconscious. Contemporary papers and case studies will bring theory to life, exploring issues such as authority and power, organisational change and the politics of difference.
Race, intersectionality and difference are approached using a theoretical, individual and organisational lens, in order to explore how they impact organisational dynamics, and the capacity of leaders, managers and consultants to take up their roles.
A range of conceptual tools will develop your capacity to think critically and systemically about organisations. You will learn to map organisational systems and understand the effects of organisational structure on organisational dynamics and vice versa. You will be encouraged to think creatively ‘across the boundary’ between the conscious and unconscious aspects of organisational life, including those of the organisational system in which the course takes place.
In the first year of the course, you will observe an organisation which will provide you with an invaluable opportunity to watch a group functioning when it is engaged in its usual task.
In your second year, you will undertake a supervised consultancy in small supervision groups. You will also be expected to organise yourselves to plan and staff a consultancy intervention for year one students. The focus is not only on the success or failure of the intervention but on the opportunity provided for learning about group processes that emerge when engaging with a client group.
Over the two years, you will participate in experiential groups, the aim of which is to learn how to observe the functioning of a group and to understand the dynamics which influence it, while also participating in the group. Experiential groups allow for the study of issues such as leadership, followership, rivalry, boundaries, group defences and cultural and role differences.
Group relations conference
Students choosing this online pathway to achieve their master’s must attend a group relations conference, preferably in person – either joining other students for the discovering leadership conference at the Tavistock Centre in London, or choosing a group relations conference to attend in their own country or elsewhere. A list of recognised conferences will be provided.
Who is this course for?
This course is for you if you are a manager, leader, consultant or coach who wants to gain insight into the unconscious processes that affect organisational systems.
This online version of the course will have a focus on virtual teams and mixed virtual and co-located in-person teams. We will examine if the unconscious at work prevails whether the work takes place in real or virtual rooms, or both.
Course details
In order to undertake this course, we ask that you:
- have a minimum of three years’ experience in your chosen profession
- have experience of direct involvement in the management, training or development of other professional workers, or engagement in consultative work for specific organisations
- have a first degree or equivalent, and/or professional experience commensurate with that qualification
- are comfortable in working and studying online and have access to a good internet connection
£7,650 per year
There are no international fees as this course is online.
For more information about financing your studies and your fee status, please see our fees and funding area.
Please note that course fees are subject to an annual uplift of 3% or the Consumer Price Inflation as at 1 September, whichever is the greater. At its discretion, the Trust may determine a figure between these two rates.
We are happy to offer a range of ways to pay your fees, as well as some funding for specific courses.
Bursary opportunities
We are delighted to be offering two bursaries for UK-based applicants from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds who secure a place on the course starting in September 2023.
Assessment
Over the two years of the master’s, assessment will be through four 3,000 word essays (two each year), two 2,000 essays (one each year) plus a dissertation of 14,000 words completed during the summer following year two.
There is also an element of continuous assessment provided by tutors and supervisors in the ‘Consulting and leading in practice’ module of the course, worth 50% of assessment for that module.
Attendance
- The course will take place across 11 Friday and Saturday teaching blocks per year (see dates in table below)
- There will be four hours of webinars/experiential work on each day of each block, with generous breaks provided
- Friday sessions will run from 11.30am to 5.00pm, UK time
- Saturday sessions will run from 11.00am to 4.30pm, UK time
In addition, there will be a series of one-hour or one-and-a-half-hour webinars scheduled on Wednesday evenings between 6.00pm and 7.30pm, UK time (31 webinars in Year One, including an introductory seminar; and 16 in Year Two).
Students in their second year should be aware that a further 11 mid-block supervision webinars will be scheduled by supervisors between January and June 2024, at times which best suit individual supervision groups.
Year One students will also be required to attend the Group Relations Conference at the Tavistock Clinic 2-5 September 2024 (TBC).
| Term | Session | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Autumn 2023 | Block 1 | 6 and 7 October 2023 |
| Autumn 2023 | Block 2 | 27 and 28 October 2023 |
| Autumn 2023 | Block 3 | 17 and 18 November 2023 |
| Autumn 2023 | Block 4 | 8 and 9 December 2023 |
| Winter 2024 | Block 5 | 12 and 13 January 2024 |
| Winter 2024 | Block 6 | 16 and 17 February 2024 |
| Winter 2024 | Block 7 | 15 and 16 March 2024 |
| Spring 2024 | Block 8 | 12 and 13 April 2024 |
| Spring 2024 | Block 9 | 10 and 11 May 2024 |
| Spring 2024 | Block 10 | 7 and 8 June 2024 |
| Spring 2024 | Block 11 | 28 June and 29 June 2024 |
Student-led webinars:
- Wednesday 18 October 2023
- Wednesday 8 November 2023
- Wednesday 29 November 2023
- Wednesday 31 January 2024
- Wednesday 24 April 2024
- Wednesday 22 May 2024
Please note: these dates could be subject to change.
Graduates of this course have:
- improved and developed their consultancy practice
- developed internal consultant roles
- taken up senior management and executive leadership roles
- become self-employed
- created a strong professional network and community of practice
- become ambassadors of the Tavistock approach in consultancy and the organisation
Why study with us?
This course will give you a better understanding of yourself in a working context and a greater capacity to understand group processes that create functioning or dysfunctional organisations and teams.
It will enhance your capacity for appropriate task related leadership and develop your ability to act effectively as a consultant, manager or leader in response to organisational issues.
Testimonials
Course facilitators
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Dr Kay Trainor
Organisational Coach and Principal Consultant, Tavistock Consulting
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Phillip Birch
Psychodynamic Psychotherapist
Validations and accreditations
This course is validated by the University of Essex.
Register your interest
Applications are now closed. Register your interest and be the first to hear when this course reopens.
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